Boll-separating and cotton-cleaning machine



Feb. 7, 1928. 1,658,731

J. E, MITCHELL BOLL SEPARATING AND COTTON CLEANING MACHINE Filed Feb. 27, 1926 JOHN f. /V/ rcHfL L.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 7, 1928.

UNITED STATES JOHN MITCHELL, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

BOLL-SEPARATING .AND COTTON-CLEANING MACHINE.

Application led February 27, 1926. Serial No. 91,062.

This invention relates to an improved machine for use as a boll separator andv cotton cleaner. In prior machines for use in cleaning cotton invented by me, such, for example,

as illustrated in Patent No. 1,426,588, dated August 22nd, 1922, I have employed, in connection with the feeding means, boll breakingr mechanism involving a rotary beaterwhich operated to separate the connected sections of the boll before the raw material was fed to the cotton cleaning mechanism, such breaking apartof the bolls rendering the subequent separation `of the cotton therefrom easier. Also, in such prior machines, I

i5 have depended upon the actionrof a kicker roll operating in conjunction with the saw cylinder to knock back the hulls and trash from the cotton carried around by the saw, and thus produce the necessary separation.

The present invention aims to provide a cotton cleaning machine of sin'lpler construction than that of my prior machines, and is characterized by the. fact that the breaking apart of the bolls and the separation of the hulls therefrom is produced by the saw cylinder itself, co-operating with certain stationary parts, thus dispensing entirely with the use of separate boll breaking mechanism and the kicker roll embodied in my prior maim chines.

The invention is characterized by a pair of feeders operating to deliver ,the mixed cotton, hulls and bolls directly to a revolving saw cylinder, which latter revolves in co-operative relation with stationary members operating, in conjunction with the saw, to separate the bolls, and with separated retarding members functioning in the nature of a screen, but causing' the hulls and trash to be separated from the cotton and delivered to the trash discharge, Iwhile permitting the cotton, which has the trash and hulls removed from it as it is drawn over such retarding means, to be carried beyond such retarding means to a given point,` where thc cotton is continuously removed from the saws by a dotier as it reaches such point.

An importa-nt feature in the construction of the machine is the provision of a screening or retarding means of circularl shape located in proximity to the surface of the saw cylinder, with spaced retarding members di verging in a direction away from the surface' of the saw cylinder.

Another feature entering into the successful operation of the machine is the provision of a space between the 'saw cylinder and the screening or retarding means, of such width as to cause the cotton carried around by the saws to be dragged over the edges of the retardmg members so that the latter will err gage and retard the movement of the hulls and trash, leaving the latter free to fall through the spaces between the reta'rding members.

Another feature of the invention resides in employing a pair of feeders of a contruction adapted to compress the bolls, or mixed cotton and hulls, between them and force the same down into contact with the the rotating saw cylinder.

In the accompanying drawing--` rlhe view is a cross-section illustrating a machine constructed according to my invention, the hopper from which the feed rolls withdraw thc bolls and mixed cotton and hulls for treatment by the machine, being omitted. Y

Referring now to the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates, generally, the casing of the machine, having an opening 2 at its top through which the bolls and mixed cotton and hulls are withdrawn from a suitable hopper (not shown) for treatment, an opening 3 at its bottom at one side of the machine through which the cleaned cotton passes to a gin, on which my machine is supposed to rest, and an opening 4 at the 'other side of the machine for the dischargel of hulls and trash. Mounted in the upper part of the machine below the opening 2 are two feed rollers 5 of similar construction, preferably star-shaped in cross-section and revolving in opposite directions, the arms of these feeders withdrawing the bolls and mixed cotton and hulls through the opening 2 from a hopper', compressing them and de livering` the raw productto the upper side of a saw cylinder 6. Mounted on the side of the casing` 1 is an angle bar 7 which, as shown, is V-Shaped in cross-section, the point of the bar being located at a certain distance from the surface of the saw cylinder and the bar as a whole acting as a breaker. Below the angle bar 7 is a second bar 8, the inner edge of which is located at a less distance from the surface of the saw cylinder than the inner edge of the bar 7 and this bar also cooperating with ythe saw to form a breaker. It will be understood that the bars 7 and 8 surface of' extend, transversely of the machine, or parallel with the surface' of the saw cylinder. Below the bar 8, I provide a screening ineinher for the purpose of separating the hulls from the cotton and for permitting the hulls to fall away from the cotton and out of the machine. This screening member may have various forms, but preferably, it is in the form of a grate; that is to say, a series of bars 9 are secured at their ends in slots in the frame members 10 provided at opposite ends of the machine, and only one of which is shown. The inner edges of these trame members, at all but their upper portions, are arran ed in circular formation and are shown as eing concentric with the surface of the saw cylinder. although this precise disposition is not essential. The bars 9 are secured therein to have their inner edges positioned at suitable 'distances from the surface of the saw cylinder, providing a space 1l between the bars and the surface oi y lthe saw cylinder in which the treatment of the cotton occurs. The bars 9 are arranged in spaced relation to each other, the spaces 12 between 'the bars being of such size as to permit hulls to readily pass through them to the discharge part of the machine. The bars 9 are. urtliermorqcaused to diverge ina direction away from the saw cylinder, as

shown, or. in other words, they are arranged' radially with reference to the center of the saw cylinder. By providing for gradual increase of the width of the spaces 12 in a. direction away from the saw cylinder, as described, I provide against choking of the hulls as they pass, or are forced through, said spaces in the rotation of the saw cylindr. i

At the lower end of the screening member just described, I provide a partition 13, the upper end of which4 supports thc screening member, said partition providing, with the wall of the casing, a space 14 through which the hulls and trash passing between the bars 9 fall, and at the bottom of this space, I provide a screw-conveyor 15 of the well-known type having right and left spirals extending from either end to the center of the conveyor, which is directly opposite the outlet opening 4 and which acts to continuously discharge the hulls and trash through said opening. On the other side of the partition 13 and beneath and slightly to one side of the saw cylinder 6, I mount in the machine a doifer 16 which is preferably in the form of a cylinder 17 having angle hars 18 mounted on its periphery at suitable distances apartand extendlng from end to cnd thereof. A guard 19 projects over the dotl'er 16 to have its end positioned in rela-tively close proximity to the saw cylinder 6 so as` on the one ,hand` to prevent cotton removed from the saw cylinder hv the dotfer from being thrown upward iri the rotation of the dotfer, and on tbe other, to prevent any hulls or 'bolls which may fall past the saw cylinder on the righthand side thereof, as shown in the View, frombecomin mixed with the cleaned cotton separatedrom the .saw cylinder by the doter. The bars 9, in addition to forming a grate or screening member, also Vact as retarding members to prevent the hulls from being carried through .the space 11 by the saw cylinder with, or at the same rate of speed as, the cotton, and ultimately blocking t 1e movement of the hulls-entirely and causing them to .discharge through the spaces 12. The space between the inner edge ,of the up er bar 9 and the surface of the saw cylin er, which is the width-of the spacell, is less than the width ofthe space between the inner edge of the breaker bar 8 and the surface of the saw cylinder, and as this latter space is also of less width than the space bctwecn the inner edge of the breaker bar 7 and the surface of the saw cylinder, there is a, gradual increase in the effective breaking and separating action between the said breakers and the bar 9 on the one hand, and the saw cylinder 6, on the other.

.In the operation of the machine, the feed ersl 5 being rotated in the direction shown by the arrows. operate to compress the bolls and mixed cotton and hulls in the successive pockets formed between their arms, and to deliver the mixture in a fairly com ressed condition to the upper surface of t e saw cylinder. This compressing action not only facilitates the action of the saws in engaging the cotton and carrying the bolls and hulls along with them, but it also tends to prevent any bolls or hulls from falling past the saw cylinder on the opposite side from that at which the separating action occurs, or on the right as shown in the drawing. As the bolls and mixed cotton and hulls are carried around by the saw cylinder in the direction shown by the arrow. any unopened bolls, or partly unopened bolls, will be forced into contact with the breaker 7, and the sections or hulls are broken apart. The space between the breaker 7 and the saw cylinder being just large enough to prevent an entire boll from passing through with the saw. will necessarily permit smaller parts of the. bolls. such as two connected hulls or sections. to pass through, and perhaps, also. bolls of a less size than the. average. Such smaller bolls and connected hulls will next be forced into engagement with the edge of` the breaker 8. and as the space between the inner edge of the breaker 8 and the saw cylinder is less than the space between the inner edge of the breaker 7 and the saw cylinder, such smaller bolls and boll sections will be broken apart by the combined action of the saw and said breaker 8. The raw material, consisting of mixed cotton and hulls and such trash as may be in the mirture, is then carried by the discharged with the hulls through the saidl Athe hulls and trash to scraped olf and lto pass between the spaces 15 saw through the space 11. In this movement, the saw cylinder which rotates at a fairly high rate of speed will carry the cotton through the space at its own rate of speed, and this action is insured by the tirm engagement of the teeth of the saws of the cylinder with the cotton. As the saw cylinder carries the cotton from the feeding point around to the doliing point, it drags the cotton over the screening member and scrapes it on the edges ot' the longitudinal bars located between the two points, causing be rolled out or 12 between the bars. The separation of the hulls from the cotton is made effective by the teeth of the saws firmly engaging the cotton without engaging the hulls, so that, necessarily, the cotton is positively carried through the space 11 more rapidly than the hulls. 1n other words, while the edges of the bars 9 cause the cotton to be engaged by the teeth oi' the saws as it is pulled over the bars, they do n-ot intert'ere with the cotton going through the space 11 at the same speed as the saw cylinder is moving, but the edges ot the bars do tend to hold back or retard the movement of the bulls, which enables the saws to pull the cotton loose from the hulls, and as soon as this occurs, the hulls roll out through the spaces between the bars. The cotton, being treed from the hulls, which action may begin at the first separating space 9, is dragged along over the remaining bars so that, in addition Vto the separation of the hulls through the spaces 12. considerable small trash is also scraped' ott' the cotton by thel edges of the bars and spaces and onto the conveyor 15, which discharges the same from the bottom of the machine.

To effectively separate the hulls and trash from the cotton, it is essential that the substantially semi-circular space between the screening member formed by the bars 9 and the rotating saw cylinder, be sufficiently nar. row, so that the locks of cotton, while engaged on one side by the saw cylinder, will rub on the other side against the edges of the bars. A space ot' this width, however, is too small for properly breaking bolls or for pulling apart the tour hulls or sections which form each boll. For properly handling theunbroken bolls, therefore, it is necessary to force them through spaces between the saw cylinder and boll breaking bars of' greater width than the space 11 before they reach such space, and such spaces as above describe-d are formed by the breaker bars 7 and 8.

With this arrangement, any unbroken bolls fed to the saw cylinder are first caught in the comparatively wide space afforded by the breaker 7, Where the latter operates to hold back such unbroken bolls sulliciently i'or the teeth ot the saw cylinder to 'engage the bolls and pull the hulls apart. Most o't' the bollsl are quartered at this point; that is,

the i'our sections ther-col' are separated from each other. and during the operation, any cotton which comes in contact with the teeth of the saws is pulled loose from the hulls and carried at a greater speed than the hulls travel, which serves to pull the cotton loose from the hulls. Any half bolls 0r pairs of hulls that are not completely separated i'roui each other at the breaker 7` are caught in the smaller space betwee 1 the breaker 8 and the saw cylinder, which is too narrow for a hall boll to go through without the two hulls being pulled apart or separated from each other; and. likewise, while these hulls are retarded while they are being pulled apart, the cotton is engaged by the teeth ot' the saws and pulled loose from the hulls, the cotton being instantly carried around to the doli'er, while the hulls tendto roll along at a slower speed, and as soon as they reach theY separating bars` they are discharged through the longitudinal spaces 12.

As will be understood, the doii'er 16 operetes to continuously remove the cotton from the saw cylinder and to discharge it through the opening d, whence it passes to the gin, as previously stated.

My invention is not limited to the precise details of construction and arrangement ot' parts shown, and various changes in this regard maybe made therein without departingfrom the broad principle of the invention as outlined in the claims.

I claim:

1. A cotton cleaning machine comprising a rotatable-cylinder, the entire working surface of which is provided with saw teeth, means for feeding bolls and mixed cotton and hulls directly thereto, a breaker located at a given distance from said cylinder, a screening member having openings for the passage of hulls, located adjacent to one portion of said cylinder beyond said breaker and co-operating therewith to eiiect separation of the hulls from the cotton as the latter is engaged by and drawn over the screening member by the saw cylinder, and a doier (to-'operating with said saw cylinder beyond said screening member.

2. A cotton cleaning machine comprising a rota-table saw cylinder, means for feeding bolls and mixed cotton and hulls directly thereto, a plurality of breakers located successively at decreasing distances from said saw cylinder, ascreening member havingl openings for the passage of hulls located adjacent to one portion of said saw cylinder beyond said breakers and co-operating therewith to eifect separat-ion of the hulls from the cotton as the latter is engaged by and drawn over the Screening member by the lll) saw cylinder, and a doier co-operating with said saw cylinder beyond said 4screening member. Y

3. A cotton cleaning machine comprising a. rotatable saw cylinder, means for feeding bells and mixed cotton and hulls directly thereto, a breaker spaced from and eo-operating with said saw cylinder, a screening.

membercomprising a series of bars located in spaced relation to each other with their inner edges deiininga circular space around a portion of said saw cylinder and elo-operating therewith to effect separation of the hulls from the cotton as the latter is engaged by and drawn over the screening memberby the saw cylinder, and a doil'er co-operating with said saw cylinder beyond said screening member.

4. A cotton cleaning machine comprising a rotatable saw cylinder, means for feeding boils andvmixed cotton and hulls directly thereto, a plurality oi breakers eo-operating with said saw cylinder and located succes- .sively at decreasing'distances from its surtace, a screening member located adjacent to a portion of said saw cylinder beyond said breakers and definingl a semi-circular space around such portion ot' the saw cylinder of less width than the space between -the surface ot the saw cylinder and the last of said breakers, said screening member having openings for the passage of hulls and co-operating with the saw cylinder tg eiect separation of the hulls from the cotton as the latter is engaged by and'drawn over the screening member by thc saw cylinder, and a (loller co-operating with said saw cylinder beyond said screening member.

5. A cotton cleaning machine comprisingr a rotatable saw cylinder, means for feeding bolls and mixed cotton and hulls directly thereto, a breaker spaced trom and co-operating with said saw cylinder, a screening member located beyond said breaker and comprising a series ot' spaced parallel bars, the inner ledges o which define a circular space around such portion of the saw cylinder of less width than the s ace between said breaker and the saw cylin er, said bars be ing. radially disposed with reference to the center-ofthe saw cylinder to provide spaces between theml for the escape of hulls increasing in width in a direction away from the saw cylinder the hulls being` separated from the cotton by engagingthe edges of' said bars and falling between said spaces as the cotton is engaged -by and dra-wn over the bars by the saw cylinder, and a dofi'er cri-operating with said saw cylinder beyond said screening member.

n (5. A cotton cleaningl machine comprising a rotatable saw c linder, means for feeding bolls and mixe( cotton and hulls directly thereto, a breaker spaced' from and co-operating with said saw cylinder, a screening member located adjacent to one portion of said saw cylinder and defining a circular space around said portion of less width than the space between said breaker and saw cyl inder, said screening member comprising a series ot' spaced parallel longitudinal bars, the spaces between which are of a size to permit hulls and trash to fall through them, and the said circular space between said screening member and the surface of the saw cylinder, defined by the inner edges ot' said bars being of such width as to permit the cotton to be drawn through it by the saws, while permitting said bars to engage the hulls and retard their passage therethrough and cause hem to fall through the spaces between the ars.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

JOH MITCHELL. 

